The Do and Do Not's of Traditional Composting Methods versus Composting with Compostio Composters

January 03, 2017

Composting is the natural process to recycle your food into fertilizer. Food scraps are the least recycled item in the world and is approximately 60 % of what is in our landfills. These are things that can easily be recycled by composting including food scraps, paper, and yard clippings. Composting also helps families save money by reducing their waste.

Materials used in Composting Process

Compost materials can be separated into two types, brown carbon rich materials and green nitrogen rich materials. Here are some examples:

Brown Compost Materials

Leaves

Hay and Straw

Paper and Cardboard

Woody tree and shrub prunings

eggshells

tea bags

corn cobs

sawdust

Green Compost Materials

vegetables and fruit

grass clippings

fresh manure

coffee grounds

young hedge trimmings

seaweed

feathers

plant cuttings

hair

Do not add:

human waste

meat and animal fats

weeds with mature seeds and plants with invasive root systems

pressure treated wood

plastic

plywood

cat litter

metals

glass

other non-organic materials

Traditional Composting versus Compostio

Compostio composters use a hot composting process. We have accelerated the heat, air flow, and mixing inside the unit and with the constant heat, mixing, and constant air flow speeds up the composting process helping you produce compost in as little as two weeks. Traditional methods of composting outside can take up to six months to produce compost. Additionally, with the Compostio you can add meats, animal fats, weeds with mature seeds, and plants with invasive root systems. The internal temperature of the Compostio can get as hot as 140F which will kill any harmful pathogens and reduce odors that attract insects and animals. The compostio lets you make compost in as little as two weeks depending on the balance of your compost.

Balancing Green and Brown Items to make Optimal Compost

The ideal mixture of material in traditional composting is a carbon (brown) to nitrogen (green) ratio of about 30 to 1. Getting that magic ratio can be tricky. Other traditional methods claim to be effective, like starting by adding a 3 inch layer of brown material on top of sticks and twigs. Collect extra brown material, such as fall leaves and keep it in a container or a bag next to the compost bin. If the brown material is very dry you can moisten the layer lightly but sparingly. Adding too much moisture is one of the most common mistakes people make when making a compost pile to balance compost.

Balancing compost in the Compostio is much easier as you only have to use saw-dust pellets as the brown item and use a ratio of pellets that is sufficient for the green items that you add. If your compost is wet you can just add more pellets until the green items are dried out and your compost is balanced.